Myung-wan Kim 9P (r) will provide live video and audio commentary Saturday on the AGA-Tygem Pro Online Prelim game between ‘regular456′ 9-dan and ‘CptJack’ 5-dan.The live commentary will be in Tygem’s World room starting at 12:30P (EST). “The live commentary feature is one of the favorite things Korean go players love in Tygemgo and I think US go players will also enjoy it,” Myung-wan Kim tells the E-Journal. “Regular456 seems to be much stronger than CptJack but observers will still enjoy the game, especially as regular456 is a somewhat famous and serious go player in the US who wants to be a pro.”photo: Myung-wan Kim doing online game commentary at the 2012 Cotsen AGA-Tygem Go Pro Prelim; photo by Chris Garlock

The American Go Association is looking for women who are interested in representing the USin the 2012 World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) in Lille, France, reports Tournament Coordinator Karoline Burrall. The WMSG’s go competition will begin August 13 and end August 23rd, and will not overlap with this year’s US Go Congress. Travel and accommodation expenses will not be provided by the WMSG or the host country. Players must have been continuous AGA members (full or youth) since January of 2011 and be US citizens to be eligible to participate. “At this point, there are still at least two seats specifically open for women,” Burrall tells the E-Journal. Anyone interested must email tournaments@usgo.org by Tuesday, June 18. “Should more players express interest than we have open seats, playoff games will be organized to select the representatives.” If you’re not interested or eligible, but know a female player who might be, Burrall urges you to pass this along to her.

“The picture on the AGA website (Champagne Celebrates Go Congress Contest Win) is interesting in several ways,” writes None Redmond. “Not only is Nakayama there (at the 2006 US Go Congress in Black Mountain, NC) but also Yoshi looking over his shoulder on the right. My daughter in law, XianXian Niu herself a strong professional player is also placing stones on Nakayama’s right and their children are looking on. Mr Nakayama styled himself the girls’ Japanese grandfather since the American and the Chinese ones were so far away. Every time I look at it I remember how frail human lives are.”Click here for details on the 2012 U.S. Go Congress in Black Mountain, NC August 4-12; rates increase June 15.

Yet one more reason to attend this year’s U.S. Go Congress is a brand-new state team tournament. The Wisonet Cup State Team GoTournament (WCSTGT) will feature six teams playing a 5-round tournament during the upcoming Congress in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Each team will have six players, including three dan-level players, two kyu-level players and one supplemental player between 5k and 4d, captained by a dan-level player. The tournament is sponsored by Wisonet Inc., which specializes in the design, development and sale of Pentominoes puzzles. The teams will compete for $1,500 in cash prizes and each player will receive a free “Super Pentominoes” puzzle. Six teams will be invited based on Go Congress registration by state as of June 15, “since there are often many players who register just before the rates increase,” says AGA Tournament Coordinator Karoline Burrall. Players should send any questions to tournaments@usgo.org.

The 2012 Cotsen Open/AGA-Tygem Pro Qualifier was held April 28-29 in Los Angeles, CA. One of the major tournaments on the American Go Association’s annual calendar, the event is sponsored by Eric Cotsen and this year major organizational support was provided by Myung-wan Kim 9P and Andy Okun; Chris Sira was the Tournament Director. Cho Hunhyun 9P topped an impressive list of professional go players in attendance, and top boards were broadcast by the American Go E-Journal (see “In Appreciation” below for complete credits).

If you didn’t sign up by Sunday’s deadline for the AGA-TygemGo Online Pro Prelim, there’s still time to participate in this historic tournament, joining over 100 who have already signed up. The registration deadline has been extended until midnight (EST) on Tuesday, June 5. “I’m playing in the AGA-Tygem tournament so that I can say, ‘I tried to become a US Go professional’” says Devin Flake 11k, a Systems Administrator in Orem, UT. Monsoon Shrestha 18k, a student in Elmhurst, NY, signed up “To be part of history,” while Peter Freedman 2D, a retiree in Portland, OR, wants to “Support the new ground-breaking American pro system.” Sign up and click here to let us know why you’re playing. “This tournament is meant to include as many players as possible, regardless of rank,” says AGA chair Andy Okun. “Though it’s just a dream for most of us, contending for pro will be a moment of pride for all of us,” he added. Every player who participates will receive a high-quality enamel “Go for Pro” pin. The tournament will be played on Saturdays and Sundays starting June 9. The online tournament gives both WMSG and NMT points. For further details, click here or email Okun at sponsorship@usgo.org or TD Yixian Zhou at missbear@gmail.com.

Maryland Open Champion Andy Liu 7D (hjekshdf 9D) will play Cotsen Open Champion Calvin Sun 7D (4ebz728 9D) in an East-West Coast Championship Exhibition Match on the Tygem server this Saturday, June 2 at 4P (EST), with live commentary by Myung-wan Kim 9P. This event is part of the 1st AGA-TygemGo Online Pro Prelim event series and will take place in the Tygem Competition Room.photo: Liu (right) & Sun (left); photos/photo collage by Chris Garlock

Over 300 have now signed up for this year’s U.S. Go Congress, set for August 4-12 in Black Mountain, NC. Professionals confirmed thus far include Maeda Ryo, Jennie Shen, Cathy Li, Yilun Yang, Feng Yun, Mingjiu Jiang and – just confirmed today — Liang Weitang 9P and Luo Jianyuan 5P from China. “Register and make your payment now to reserve your preferred accommodation,” urges Co-Director Paul Celmer, noting that registration costs rise $50 on June 15th. “Remember, your registration is not complete until you have made payment.” Other Congress features: the first ever U.S. pro certification tournament and the first International Go Symposium in North America.